I like old windows. You know the type; the grid-style with several lites often found in historic colonial homes. They have character. Some time ago I picked one up at my local landfill. It was in excellent condition and I was looking forward to using it as a frame for one of my prints. Not quite ready for it, I put it in my garage, and there it sat and sat and...  Every time I looked at it I thought, "Oh yeah, I've got to do something with that window." But soon, another idea for its use crept into my head... 
For those of us who live indoors (and I'm guessing that includes you), our windows provide one of our main views of the outside world. I wanted to create a concept shot with a window floating in the air through which we could view the world beyond. Now, this could be done by simply creating a composite image - photograph the window against a plain background and, using some Photoshop trickery, superimpose it over your scene. Well, that seemed too easy. I wanted the window to actually be 'floating' in the air. Unfortunately, my "use the force" skills are rather poor, so I would have to come up with a way of suspending the window in an outdoor scene. And, given my love of astro-landscape photography, I wanted this project to involve the night sky. 

 The Story Behind the Photo
In the back corner of my photographic brain there's a room called the Idea Factory. It's right beside the CEO's office, where ideas are accepted or rejected, and down the hall from Shipping and Receiving, where ideas wait to be executed (that's executed as in 'carried out', not 'shot in front of a firing squad'). The idea for this photograph was born three years ago and just sat on the shelf. The Logistics and Design division needed to fully develop the idea, but the real delay came from the brain cells in the Motivation Department. They sat around working on easier concepts. Lazy bums! 
About a year before this idea was created I became interested in astrophotography, something that I had no previous experience with. It didn't take long before I developed a real love and comfort level with it. Most people spend very little time looking at the night sky or, because of the urban environment in which they live, can't see much of it anyway. Living in a dark sky region of the country, I have always been fascinated by the night sky. I wanted to create a concept photograph that showed my comfort level, and how much our modern society is oblivious to the natural beauty of the night sky.